Clasp



Jul 31, .1945.

E. D. HALLOCK CLASP Filed Sept, 9, 1943- INVENTOR.

JYTTORNEY Patented July 31,"

UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE CLASP Eugene D. Hallock, Bufialo, N. Y., assignor to the Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of War and his successors in office Application September 9, 1943, Serial No. 501,642-

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

: amended April 30, 1928'; 370 0. G. 757) 1 Claim.

nected together but which will not become readily disengaged from the material.

A further object of the invention is to alford a fastener which will be simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture.

In the accompanying drawing showing an embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the rear of a helmet showing the claspin use.

, Fig. 2 is a side view of the clasp in tion. I Fig. 3 is a front view of the clasp.

Fig. 4 is-a side view of the clasp in closed position.

Fig. 5 is a. rear view of the clasp.

The numeral 1 indicates my improved fastening device. As will be seen by referring to Fig. 2 the fastening device is preferably formed by bending a single strip of flexible metal or any other suitable material upon itself so as to form an upper arm 2 and a lower arm or base 3. The

open posifree end of the base member may be bent inwardly and then outwardly so as to form a. hook or catch 4 which is'adapted to receive and hold the free end of the upper arm 2. It will be seen that due to the yieldability and resiliency of the material employed in the construction of the fastener the upper arm may be depressed so as vided adjacent the free end of the arm 2. The

transverse and longitudinal corrugations may merge as shown in Fig. 3. In order that the fasminating in. a reversely curvedportion adapted tener may firmly grip the material to which it is applied, the longitudinal side edges of the upper and lower arms 2 and 3 may be provided with barbs or teeth I which are adapted to bite into the material being held by the fastener and thereby stop any slippage between the fastener 4 and the material. The barbsor teeth may be formed by slitting or punching the edge of the arms and then bending the cut portions inwardly. It is preferable that the barbs of the upper and lower arms be staggered so as not to weaken the edge of the arms, which would be the case if the barbs were opposite one another.

For the purpose of illustrating one ofthe main uses of the improved fastening device, Fig. 1 shows a helmet 8 in which the fastening device I is used for holding the adjustable headband I0 to the conventional suspension straps or webbing 9. It has been found by experience that when the helmetis worn in actual combat" and consequently is subjected to hard usage or concussion, the fastening means ordinarily used for connecting the headband to the suspension straps will tend to open and thus allow the headband and suspension straps to fall, thereby endangering .thelife of the wearer. In order that the fastener of the present invention ,gwill tend to lock instead of open and therebyly ore firmly. grip the material to which it is attached, when it is subjected to shock, the rib 6' has been provided adjacent the end of the arm 2. The rib 6 the rib 6 will relieve the lip l of the hook from the shock to which it may be subjected and as a result prevent the fastener from readily opening. Although I have shown and described one specific embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifica-.

tions.

What I regard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A fastener having two spaced arms resiliently connected at one end, said arms having cooperating projecting portions adapted to be pressed into the material held by the fastener, one of the arms having a resilient hook at its free end to engage the free end of the other arm, said hook terto be engaged by the other arm as it moves into closed position to press back the hook, said portion projecting beyond said other arm in its closed position to furnish a handle for releasing the hook, said other armhaving a transverse projection substantially equal ,in height to the reversely curved portion of the hook and located close enough to the hook to protect it from being opened by accidental pressure on the fastener but allowing-insertion of the finger tip between the projection and the extension to press the hook back and open the fastener. 

